"I don't want you to feel pressured into making any decisions today," Ali was saying, walking shoulder to shoulder with Dec as they passed through the management offices. "Working with PR, they're always going to be pushing for a quick response but, judging from the public reaction so far, you've got most people on your side already. We don't need to be looking at damage limitation too seriously here."
Dec threw a glance over his shoulder before he replied, disliking how Ant had dropped back just a little. The gesture was clear enough to Dec; this was his meeting, his decision, even if it did affect both of them. Everything did nowadays. One of them couldn't breathe without the other knowing about it.
"I don't know how keen I am to listen to any of their suggestions," he said eventually, trying to keep some of the venom from his voice. It was worth saving after all, so that he had enough to dole out during the meeting. Not that his supply was dwindling; a couple of weeks of being out, of being back to something resembling normality with Stephen, had been enough for him to build up a great deal of anger towards the people who had talked to the younger man in the first place.
"They know what they're talking about," Ali said fairly, clearly in managerial mode. She was also blissfully oblivious to what had happened – for now. "They might overreact slightly but sometimes it's better to do too much than not enough. And I imagine they're wishing you'd told them about this earlier – not that you should have said something without feeling comfortable first."
"I thought about it," Dec mumbled, his voice instantly slipping towards fragility. "I was worried they'd tell me to stay closeted. I know we've got an image, Al, and this hardly fits with it..."
"You are one half of the image," Ali interjected, "The two of you are popular because you're genuine, real people. If the image was a lie, you'd lose all of that integrity."
"Their ideas so far haven't exactly screamed integrity," Dec argued back lightly, still harbouring some doubt towards their manager. He really hoped she hadn't had anything to do with what had happened, but he couldn't help but worry she had been involved.
"If this is about the girlfriend thing," Ali began tentatively.
"It's about Stephen getting ambushed," Dec interrupted, unable to help himself as he added, "I really hope you had nothing to do with that..."
"Of course I wouldn't" – Ali stopped in the corridor, composure lost for a moment – "What are you talking about?"
"The auditions at the start of the year," Dec said, reassured by how lost she seemed, "A couple of our lot got Stevie in a room and politely suggested that he broke up with me for the sake of mine and Ant's careers. And Stephen, being Stephen, decided to listen to what they were saying."
"And when were you planning on mentioning this?" Ant interjected suddenly, disbelief marred by a flicker of anger in his eyes. "I don't want anyone representing us if they're going to act like that."
Ali held up a steadying hand, first turning to Dec. "I had no idea you were even in a relationship, Dec, never mind being in any sort of position to be asking people to do something like that." She fixed Ant with a firm stare. "And please, let's just try and go into this calmly. If what Dec is saying is true, then they've acted completely unprofessionally – but we can at least try not to stoop to their level."
"I'll stoop as low as I have to," Dec grumbled darkly. He hadn't got over what Stephen had told him and wouldn't for a long time given the effect he'd seen it have on the other man. Stephen hadn't needed any more reasons to doubt their relationship or his own identity. "People have no idea. No bloody idea what it's like having them imply all sorts about us. I've put up with them dancing around the subject like the room's going to explode if anyone mentions it head-on for years. And Stephen really didn't need to hear what they had to say at the start of the year."
YOU ARE READING
As we fall apart
Fanfiction"Maybe it would be best if..." "What's that supposed to mean?" "I don't think I can do this anymore." It felt like it came out of nowhere. They'd had a lot to contend with for a long time but still, after it all, they'd had each other. Until they di...
